Thu, Sep. 10th, 2009, 03:22 am

I just COMPLETELY redid the layout on the DREKKA WEBSITE, including adding lots of mp3s for download incl some rare unreleased tracks (17 tracks total!)

Let me know what you think of the new site, if you have a moment!

repost from the DREKKA NEWSFEED:

[ A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBIT BEHIND THE SCENES : NINTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER ]

A BRAND NEW WEBSITE FOR DREKKA

It's been years since I did a site overhaul... and with the upcoming tour and re-issue and new tape and new album... I thought it was about time.

I am working hard on filling the last few dates to be booked for the 'Matters of Tone' tour of Europe. There is a little mini-site for the tour HERE... which I will update with tour dates as they confirm.

It looks a lot like this new layout... and not coincidentally.

I just sent Brad Rose at DIGITALIS LTD the artwork and tracks for a new live cassette coming out in time for the tour... entitled 'ANCESTRAL CAVE SEQUENCE', it is a 40min live cassette recorded as a series of improvised soundtracks for a short film by Nathan Vollmar and Andrew Perry Davis. it all went down 11 Jan 08, as the opening reception for Andrew's sculpture exhibition entitled, 'Clan of the Cave Mouse'. I love the tape, which involved a stream-of-consciousness collaging of various recordings of DREKKA covers by friends over the years... voices and instruments played by Day2 luminaries such as Mark Trecka, Angelica Busque and many more... even the mysterious Icelandic teen terror, Almar makes an appearance.

I also spent a good portion of August studying the art of mastering, downloading various demos and finally settling on the amazing Izotope Ozone mastering suite... then came a 17hr session wrestling with the masters for the first two DREKKA cassettes from 1996. I am VERY happy with the results and I feel like the remastered CD version of these tapes greatly improve the sonic landscape of the original recordings, without too much changes or revisionism... they are the same recordings... just a lot more commanding.

I can't wait for the set to come out on MORC this winter. The discs are all ready to go and at the plant, so I am hoping they will be ready in time for tour.

While intensely going through every single recording I did in 1996, I came across (quite unexpectedly) almost 30min of unreleased tracks from the first two album sessions. These fit really nicely, and make the package a full 2hrs of music!

DREKKA - 'Someday I will be called upon regarding matters of tone - Collected Works: Volume One' 2CD set... coming this winter on MORC RECORDS, Belgium!

In addition to all this, AND running my record store full-time, I managed to get a few new Bluesanct releases out... head over to BLUESANCT.com for more info on those... BODUF SONGS, BODY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, SYNTHESISIA, HENRY BLOOD... all good things.

So, to recap... TOUR in NOVEMBER... TAPE in NOVEMBER... CDs in WINTER... NEW SITE...

Exciting times.

And then, after tour will come the assault on finishing an entirely new DREKKA album... the long simmering 'Tarwestraat'... it's going to be a beauty.

Thu, Apr. 16th, 2009, 06:46 pm

repost from the DREKKA NEWSFEED:

[ A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBIT BEHIND THE SCENES : SIXTEENTH DAY OF APRIL ]

DREKKA TO TOUR EUROPE IN NOVEMBER 2009

It's true... it's been years... since BLUE BUS MOUNTAIN, I think... 2005? I've been over for a couple shows, and on tour with rivulets... but, it's been a while since I've done a proper Drekka tour in Europe.

The recent DREKKA/DYLAN ETTINGER TOUR I did was a lot of fun and went really well. I've got a whole set of new material, plus a couple new releases coming up... sounds like time for a tour to me, right?

Currently planning out rough itinerary, so if you have any ideas or want to host a show, let me know.

I am working like crazy to finish up the new batch of releases over at BLUESANCT... BODUF SONGS 10", SYNTHESISIA CD, BODY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST CD... and a new series on my other label, ORPHANOLOGY... all of these will be unveiled soon on the BLUESANCT SITE.. stay tuned over there for news.

Once those are all in the can and in production-land, it's all about DREKKA and my post-punk band, TURN PALE, for the rest of the year baby! TURN PALE has been stalled in the water for our third full-length, awaiting my lyrics for the songs... I've got a sort of writer's block on it, as the words I wrote a couple years ago no longer mean anything to me... I need to just listen to the album a few dozen times and let the songs speak to me... come up with a new story to tell with it.

DREKKA, on the other hand, is NOT stalled in any way... it is clambering at the gate, ready to burst through with lots of sounds and releases.

My main project right now, the archiving of all recordings to date by DREKKA, will present it's first fruits in time for the tour, I hope... MORC will be issuing a CD (possible 2CD) containing the earliest released stuff I did in 1994-1996, including the first DREKKA tape, entitled 'Grieve'. On looking back through the archives, it seems I made several different versions for this album with alternate track listings. I am consulting a couple DAY2 experts to see what these track listings were, and come up with a definitive one for the CD release. If you, somehow, have a copy of 'Grieve' on cassette, PLEASE BE IN TOUCH and email me the track listing so we can make this as accurate as possible.

In addition to the archive releases, the new DREKKA album, entitled 'Tarwestraat' is taking shape. One track from it I have been playing in my recent live sets, and it is settling in nicely. I hope to have most of the tracks ready to play out on my autumn tour, and then come home and finish the last mixing before the end of the year. I am very excited about this album, the first totally new DREKKA full-length since... 1998? And I am very thrilled to have so many amazing players on it; Annelies Monsere, Wim Lecluyse (Morc/Circle Brothers), Chris Gowers (Karina ESP) and more to come. It is going to be the best thing DREKKA has done yet, I know it!

But, before 'Tarwestraat' is finished will likely come a couple new cassette releases. The follow up to my 'PIA' cassette on El Tule (which is almost sold out, BTW) will contain field recordings and performances from my trip to Nepal in 1999. I will also have a live cassette on the tape branch of the Digitalis Industries empire containing the beautiful 'Ancestral Cave Sequence' performances from last year, done as part of an installation performance with my friend ANDREW PERRY DAVIS.

This cassette, entitled 'PIA: Flight 831/761' is a 30 minute sound journal I recorded in the airspace of Pakistan on October 16, 1999. While travelling home from Nepal that day, my friends and I were delayed for a few hours in Karachi airport because there was a coup happening in Islamabad! We weren't in any danger, but it was still quite intense.

Side A features an extended spontaneous harmonium piece entitled 'Ke Garne' (Nepalese for 'What to do')... layered harmonium melodies blend with the sound of the airport and CNN reporting the coup live as it unfolds.

Side B features a 15 minute master-mix of the exciting in-flight entertainment offered on board PIA... enjoy the sound of the plane and an eclectic A.D.D. shitfest of sound!

This is the first in series of audio journal cassettes from the Drekka archives... the next one, recorded in and around Kathmandu, Nepal, should be out in a month or so... followed by... ?

(ps- If Kirstin or Andy or Justin or Greg or Sarah are reading this, shoot me an email and I'll send you a copy!)

In other news relating to Drekka and DYLAN ETTINGER, we will be heading east for a 'Spring Break 09' tour in March... most of the dates are confirmed and listed already on the DREKKA MYSPACE PAGE (and don't forget to friend us).